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Restoring Identity

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restoring identity Final report of the Moving forward consultation project Amanda Cornwall Public Interest Advocacy Centre 2009 Copyright © Public Interest Advocacy Centre Ltd (PIAC), June 2009 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior permission. First published 2002 by PIAC Revised edition June 2009 by PIAC ISBN 978 0 9757934 5 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) would like to thank all of the people who participated in focus group meetings and made submissions as part of the project. We appreciate that for many people it is difficult to talk about the past and how it affects their lives today. We thank the members of the reference group for their support and hard work during the original project: Elizabeth Evatt, PIAC’s Chairperson; Audrey Kinnear, Co-Person of the National Sorry Day Committee; Brian Butler, ATSIC Social Justice Commission; Harold Furber, Northern Territory stolen generations groups; and Dr William Jonas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, HREOC. PIAC would like to thank Darren Dick, Chris Cunneen, Reg Graycar and Jennifer Clarke who provided comments on the draft report in 2002 and Tom Poulton, Bianca Locsin and Chris Govey, of Allens Arthur Robinson, who provided pro bono assistance in drafting the Stolen Generations Reparations Bill that appears as Appendix 4 of this revised edition. Cover Image: National Painting of the Stolen Generation by Joy Haynes Editor: Catherine Page Design: Gadfly Media Enquiries to: Public Interest Advocacy Centre Ltd ABN 77 002 773 524 Level 9, 299 Elizabeth Street Sydney NSW 2000 AUSTRALIA Telephone: (02) 8898 6500 Facsimile: (02) 8898 6555 E-mail: [email protected] www.piac.asn.au Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this publication may contain references to deceased persons. Forward There is no Aboriginal person who is not affected by the removal of their people from lands, from communities, from families and from culture. One of the key recommendations of the Bringing them home report was that reparation be made to all those who suffered because of forcible removal policies, and that reparation should consist of: 1. acknowledgement and apology; 2. guarantees against repetition; 3. measures of restitution; 4. measures of rehabilitation; and 5. monetary compensation. Having taken the first step by apologising to the Stolen Generations, it is disappointing that the new Federal Labor government is resisting fully implementing the package of reparations proposed in Bringing them home. Increased efforts to remedy disadvantage in Aboriginal communities are long overdue, but they are not a substitute for reparations that address the claims and particular needs of members of the Stolen Generations, their families and communities. Faced with government inaction on reparation, the Moving forward consultation project developed a model for a Reparations Tribunal. The project was conducted by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) in partnership with Stolen Generations groups, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and other Aboriginal organisations. It is an example of Aboriginal people working with government and community organisations to build consensus for change. It has always been my own view that a reparation tribunal is preferable to the adversarial court process. I respect the rights of others to seek redress through the courts, but I believe that the legal issues are too complex and the likelihood of success too slim. There can be a huge gap between what appears to be natural justice and what the legal system can deliver. While governments have wasted millions of dollars defending claims for compensation in the courts, Australians have demonstrated their openness to justice by working in groups all over the country for reconciliation. They have marched in the streets, they have signed Sorry Books and most recently, they have made their voices heard in the outpouring of support for the Prime Minister’s apology to the Stolen Generations. That day – 13 February 2008 – was a day of pride and celebration, but also sadness. I thought of my mother and my two older sisters who did not live to see the apology. More than a decade has already passed since Bringing them home. A compassionate Australia cannot delay reparation any longer. Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC, CBE, DSG restoring identity 2009 restoring identity 2009 Introduction to the revised edition The Prime Minister’s apology to the Stolen Generations has created a renewed optimism for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as for many organisations that work with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities, no matter what their focus. All Australian parliaments have now made formal apologies to the Stolen Generations. This is an important first step, yet apologies are only one aspect of the reparations recommended in the Bringing them home report. Other essential features of reparation are guarantees against repetition, measures of restitution and rehabilitation, and monetary compensation. Restoring Identity is the final report of the Moving forward national consultation project conducted in 2002, which sought the opinions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people about PIAC’s proposal for a Stolen Generations Reparations Tribunal. The report discusses the views of those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about reparations and presents the Reparations Tribunal model developed from the consultation project. In designing its proposal for a Stolen Generations reparations tribunal, PIAC drew upon its own experience representing members of the Stolen Generations. The belated success of the late Bruce Trevorrow in his civil claim against the South Australian Government is a significant step forward for members of the Stolen Generations. However the State Government’s subsequent appeal of the decision highlights the continual challenges that members of the Stolen Generations face when seeking redress through the courts. Most members of the Stolen Generations will find that a successful pursuit of a civil claim through the courts is technically impossible, or simply too painful. Amassing sufficient evidence is difficult. The time that has elapsed since removals occurred means that many witnesses are no longer available. Plaintiffs face an inherent disadvantage because relevant documentation is, and always has been, controlled by governments and institutions. In most cases the documents necessary to support a successful claim in the courts were never created or have not survived. Plaintiffs must also endure hostile cross- examination and intense scrutiny of their private lives, including health and social problems that they have suffered as a result of their removal. Another recent landmark was the Tasmanian Government’s ex gratia payments to members of the Stolen Generations. The positive public reaction to the Tasmanian scheme demonstrates that there is widespread support for further measures of reparation for the Stolen Generations. The experiences of indigenous peoples fighting for justice in other countries continue to provide important and useful guidance for Australia. In Canada, implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement has ended many years of litigation, including thousands of individual claims and several class actions. The Settlement provides a truly comprehensive package of reparations for former Residential School students, whose experiences were in many ways similar to those of the Stolen Generations. Implementation of the Settlement began in late 2007 and already more than 65,000 former Residential School students have received common experience payments. A process to provide additional payments of up to restoring identity 2009 $275,000 for people who experienced physical or sexual abuse or serious psychological harm is now beginning. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission and funding for commemoration and healing activities provide reparation for families and communities harmed by the Residential Schools policy. Since Restoring Identity was first published in 2002, PIAC’s focus on reparation for the Stolen Generations has broadened to include the related issue of Stolen Wages: the withholding of wages, benefits and entitlements from Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders under legislative and other arrangements across Australia. Only two states, New South Wales and Queensland, have made efforts to address this issue. The outcomes have reinforced the need for broad consultation and careful attention to detail in designing compensation or reparation schemes. The Queensland approach to Stolen Wages has been particularly divisive, and may ultimately have done more harm than good. The Prime Minister’s apology recognised the terrible injustice perpetrated against the Stolen Generations. As long as members of the Stolen Generations are denied reparations while governments spend millions of dollars defending Stolen Generations litigation, the injustice continues. PIAC’s hope is that Australia can learn from the Canadian experience and avoid the harm to claimants and to the broader community, and the waste of public money that accompanies litigation. PIAC’s Reparations Tribunal model provides a way to do this by providing a comprehensive response to the needs of all members of the Stolen Generations, their families
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